


It’s Not Heavy (Not For Both of Us)

by Aeremaee



Series: Star Wars Stories [4]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Drift Compatibility, First Kiss, First Meetings, Jaegers (Pacific Rim), Kaiju (Pacific Rim), M/M, Minor Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso/Bodhi Rook, Minor Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus, Minor Leia Organa/Han Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 01:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14533467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeremaee/pseuds/Aeremaee
Summary: She could see the moment in his eyes when he decided that they were going to do it, to the Breach with Drift Compatibility and training and pons helmets and spinal clamp suits that might not even work properly, and no matter that the neural handshake could kill them or that the Kaiju could eat them. No one else was coming to save them, so they were going to save themselves.





	It’s Not Heavy (Not For Both of Us)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2018 Star Wars Big Bang, with art by the amazing Nightfell.

When the alarm first went off, it gave her such a fright that she dropped the spanner down Falcon’s leg and almost slid head first down into it herself. Only a quick bending of her knees to brace her legs against the plates of the knee joint kept her in place. Her headlight reflected off the spanner, a few metres down. She’d have to climb down after it or take off the shin plate to get it back. She breathed curses until her heart beat slowed down again. What the hell was that noise, anyway?

She clambered backwards until she could rest her full weight in the climbing harness and started to rappel down. Shedding safety gear along the way she went up to the control room, to find that the centre console had come to life and was displaying an image that curdled her blood.

<< _Kaiju proximity alert_ >>

The left monitor displayed stats on the monster— _where did that information even come from?_ —and the one to the right showed a map of the Anchorage coastline, with a glowing dot still many miles out but steadily making its way closer. The middle monitor featured a listing of all the Jaegers that were supposedly available to scramble. They were all on there, even if only Falcon’s bay was actually still online and the rest had been cannibalised. The dot kept moving in.

She had to sit on the floor with her back to the console for a few minutes to get her breathing back under control.

Should she do something? Could she do something? She’d been sure the Shatterdome had been disconnected from the one in Hong Kong, the last one still operational. LOCCENT had been dark for years in spite of her early efforts to get it booted up to send a message. But she was getting this data now, so maybe she’d been wrong. Or was there some sort of automated emergency system that woke up the Shatterdome systems if a Kaiju got sufficiently close?

Weak kneed, she got up and made her way to the wide window looking down on the factory floor. The husks of three Jaegers stood, silently looking out over the cavernous room. It conjured up images she had to shake her head to dislodge.

There was nothing she could do. Someone else would have to handle it. She had to go spelunking for her spanner down Falcon’s right knee joint.

She’d left the alarm blaring. It’d probably stop when the Kaiju was dead—when she was safe again. And if no one came to fight the beast…

She clutched her hands a few times and went back to the console, trying to remember the right button or switch to turn it off. The monster might hear the siren and come to check. She’d prefer to hear it coming if it did. She sat down on the floor again, lightheaded, breaths rapid and shallow. Would the towns deeper inland have gotten the warning too? Would the Jaegers come? And if they did, would it be in time, this time?

She counted backwards from ten and tried to breathe deep. And again. Again. As long as it took. Then she got off the floor and went to put her safety gear back on.

Not even half an hour later she heard something else. It was faint but definitely not her imagination. There was something going on outside. Someone had come to fight the Kaiju.

Rey scrambled back down Falcon’s leg and out of her gear, tossed her tools where they would land and raced through the Shatterdome to get to its roof.

It was right there, marching up Cook Inlet like it was a kiddie pool, and it was absolutely _gargantuan_. She couldn’t make out any details of its shape, but it didn’t seem to be a very good swimmer, more of a hulking mass with heavy legs and tail. Made to obliterate cities and destroy lives. Rey had no idea how Kaiju were normally categorised, but this one looked like the end of the world. Like it deserved a whole new category. Or maybe that was the other one, the one that had… She shook her head violently, trying to derail that train of thought.

Crawling over the beast like they were a colony of ants was a group of white clad people. They had vehicles keeping up with the Kaiju from the shoreline and she could see explosions being set off all over its hide. Tiny aircraft were circling and firing huge calibre rounds. There were ships circling just outside of the monster’s wake, ready to send more men into the fray.

_The First Order,_ she realised. The paramilitary group hell bent on destroying the Kaiju and saving the world the old-fashioned way, with guns instead of with giant robots, armed with specialised weaponry and Kaiju Blue resistant armour. She wished she’d brought binoculars.

She had no clue if the battle was going well for the First Order. The monster kept on advancing, making its way ever closer to shore. Some of the ships had to break away when it swiped a tail at them. A shake of its head sent troopers flying. A swipe of one front paw and the flyers had to scatter. A second swipe, and it caught one of the aircraft and sent it into a desperate tailspin that ended with a crash on the shore not 500 metres in front of the Shatterdome.

Rey didn’t even have to think about it before hurrying back down the stairs and through the complex to go and check for survivors.

She reached the aircraft right when the pilot managed to blow out the hatch. Alive, then. She stood back, suddenly unsure, but when she saw no further movement it spurred her into rushing forward after all, to grab at a weakly flailing arm, to hook an arm over a heaving chest, to hoist the pilot out and sling him across her back to be carried out. She didn’t manage to drag him very far, but she had to check him over, anyway, so she dumped him in the sand and started removing his flight gear one piece at a time. Helmet. No head injuries. He was dazed but conscious. Chest and shoulder plates. Maybe a cracked rib, possibly internal bleeding but no way to really check. Back plate. Bruising everywhere. Arm and leg plates. Nothing broken. She sat back, panting. He would be all right, at least until well after he was in the care of his battalion again. His breathing was slowing back down to normal. She only had to wait a few moments for him to regain his wits, the battle growing steadily louder behind them.

“Wh… What happened?” he stammered.

“Kaiju knocked you out of the sky,” Rey said. “You’re going to be fine.”

He shot upright, panic clear on his features, to see the smoking remains of his craft and make a sound of distress low in his throat.

“My fighter! I have to go back and help my squad!”

“Not in that thing,” Rey scoffed, and then squirmed a little uncomfortably at her own reaction. “Sorry,” she added.

“You don’t understand!” he yelled. “They’re not going to make it! I have to help them! I have to!”

“Won’t there be reinforcements coming?” Rey asked, attempting to calm him down a little. His anxiety was affecting her, ratcheting up her breathing and heartbeat. She hadn’t talked to anyone in a long time. “Don’t they always say there’s as many First Order troops as they need?”

“Of course they’re coming, but look at that thing! Look at it, it’s humongous. Humongous!” Rey had to flinch back to avoid his hands flying everywhere as he talked. “Does this look good to you?”

They both looked out into the bay and had to admit that no, it did not.

“I wish they hadn’t shut down the Jaeger program,” the pilot lamented. “I bet if I could have been a Jaeger pilot I could smash that thing’s head in like it was made of clay. I never would have joined the First Order, don’t tell my squad, but they are all completely crazy. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to just strap on some armour, never mind that it’s Blue proof, and shoot a gun at a Kaiju? Who the hell? All I wanted to do was beat these freaks, but I thought I’d be doing it in a Jaeger, you know? Not from that close up, I mean it swatted me right out of the sky if you’ll believe it and I mean…”

Rey let him rant on while she looked at him and thought the same thought over and over again.

She grabbed his wrist and he stopped midsentence. “Come with me right now,” she said, eyes wild with fear but face set with determination.

She dragged him off while he kept shouting at her to explain, or that he had to stay on the beach in case they were coming to pick him up. She figured he’d just see when they got there.

“Oooooh, those are _Jaegers_ ,” he shrieked when they made it to the main hangar. “Holy shit, that’s Ebon Hawk. That’s _the_ Ebon. Hawk. I can’t believe it, I’d recognise that design everywhere, I thought it was decommissioned, I mean it was decommissioned, but I thought that meant destroyed and it’s just sitting there, I can’t even!..”

“Will you come on!” Rey groused, yanking him along further onto the factory floor, past Ebon Hawk’s slightly sagging shape, its once so distinguishing red stripes now faded and sad, past Ebon Hawk’s twin Moldy Crow, the walking arsenal to the Hawk’s brawler, which elicited another raving monologue from the First Order boy.

“Those two are garbage,” she yelled, “but that one’ll do!”

She pointed ahead and got him to notice the third Jaeger that stood in the hangar, proudly upright and still mostly white: Millenium Falcon, the third and last Generation One Jaeger abandoned in Anchorage when their upkeep got too expensive compared to building and maintaining the newer generations. It’d been her father’s favourite, the one her mother had cared for.

“But there aren’t any rangers here!” he babbled. “It’s all been shut down!”

There was a beat of silence through which she dragged him farther along towards the cockpit elevator and then:

“Why are they even still here? Why the hell are _you_ here? And where are we going?”

“We’re going to take the Falcon and stop that monster before it’s too late and it makes landfall!” she declared.

“But we need rangers!” he said.

She spun on him and grabbed him by the shoulders urgently. “We’re all we’ve got. We’re all your friends out there have got! So are you with me? Because the load is too heavy to carry by myself!”

She could see the moment in his eyes when he decided that they were going to do it, to the Breach with Drift Compatibility and training and pons helmets and spinal clamp suits that might not even work properly, and no matter that the neural handshake could kill them or that the Kaiju could eat them. No one else was coming to save them, so they were going to save themselves, and his squad.

“Let’s do it,” he said.

“Let’s do it,” she nodded.

There were racks with suits and helmets by the top of the elevator and they struggled into them as quickly as they could, doing up each other’s fastenings and sorting everything out as best they managed. She strapped him into the left harness and flitted around turning everything on, praying nothing blew and that all the systems she’d so painstakingly modified over the years would interface as planned and tested, but never proven. There was no LOCCENT to get them through this, no technicians to keep an eye on things for them, but she’d taught Falcon’s A.I. to handle a lot of those functions—she hoped.

She flipped the switch.

_Initiating launch operations, Millenium Falcon._

“Ready?” she asked, feeling like she would vibrate right out of her suit.

“Ready,” Finn said, voice warm and steady, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “We can do this.”

She squeezed back and nodded. “We can do this.”

They let go, put their hands on the controls and Rey flipped the final switches.

_Initiating Drift_ , Falcon said, and their suits responded. Rey didn’t have time to feel pride in just how much she’d been able to accomplish before the neural clamps connected and the neural gel flooded the circuitry. She wasn’t sure if she expected it to hurt. She wasn’t sure if it did hurt.

 

It’s like hypnic jerk and sleep paralysis rolled into one for a second, and Rey can’t breathe, she can’t move, and panic floods her mind while all she can think is _we can do this_ and _don’t chase the rabbit_ _whatever that even means_ and _what if they can’t do it after all…_

And then she’s watching memories that aren’t her own or maybe are and everything is a weird colour and there’s someone in there with her who feels her panic and lets her feel his courage in return. Finn is there at her back, and he’s proud of her because he knows that the Falcon is hers by sole virtue of the amount of blood, sweat and tears she’s sacrificed for it and he’s propping her up, helping her to carry that load and still content to let her drive the systems she knows so well.

It’s not ideal, as far as Drifts go.

It’s good enough.

_Neural Handshake holding steady at 85%,_ Falcon informs them. They hear it in the back of their minds, a silent third pillar in their Drift. _All basic functions available._

That’s fine, Rey thinks. She hadn’t gotten around to fixing the plasma canon anyway. They just need to go out there and finish what the First Order started, and they can do that. They can do this.

They walk out of the bay, out of the Shatterdome. It’s weird to have to think about it so consciously and at the same time it’s easy as breathing.

“Are you okay?” Rey asks, and gets a flash of being surrounded by teammates thumping her back for a job well done, tinged with worry. It’s distracting. She has to shake her head to dislodge it, and Falcon shakes its head with her.

“Whoa,” Finn says. “Easy, Rey. Just let it flow past.” He’s getting flashes as well, system menu’s scrolling past faster than he can read.

“It’s because the Drift isn’t optimal,” Rey says. “I can’t compensate.”

“That’s okay. We’ll make it work. We’ve got a little time to hit our stride. If you see anything embarrassing,” Finn jokes, “let’s just agree to never speak of it again.” Rey grins at him, and Falcon’s steps smooth out, just a little.

They’re wading into the water now, and somehow it feels cold even though there’s no way for the sensation of the water to actually transfer from Falcon to them.

The Kaiju looms in the distance. The First Order is not backing down, but through the Drift Rey picks up on Finn’s analysis of the battle, responds viscerally to every blow, every move and countermove. It’s confusing to care so much about people you’ve never met, even though memories of moments spent together keep fluttering through your mind. She tries hard to keep her focus on the task ahead, on the workings of the Jaeger, away from complicated feelings. Away from how the very sight of the Kaiju makes her feel, from how Falcon makes her feel. Away from the sight to her right.

Finn looks right for her.

Nature hasn’t quite started to reclaim the ruins of the town, but it still looks like it’s been there for decades, rather than years. You can clearly see the path the Kaiju tore for itself while wading through the town, though nearly every structure has been damaged by the tremors caused by its passage. Rey doesn’t know what the creature’s designation was, what category it was, which Jaeger eventually took it down. All she knows is that it destroyed everything she’d ever known, killed her parents, family and friends, left her on her own in a ghost town. Its sole purpose had been to support the nearby Shatterdome, where her parents had been engineers, where there were still people alive that she knew, where someone might help her, but by the time she made it there it had been evacuated, shut down and abandoned. No one ever came back for the Jaegers that had been left behind, or for the supplies, tools and gear. Or for her.

The memories are like murky water, bogging her down, causing her steps to falter—hers and Falcon’s. Finn is with her, watching her memories while she struggles not to engage, carrying her along through the reel of ethereal images. He feels for her, feels _with_ her, but the memories don’t eat at him, and he doesn’t waver.

They don’t look to the right again.

From closer up it makes something in the back of her brain scream in inconceivable horror just how monstrous this thing is, just how much larger than her, just how insignificant she is compared to it. The Jaeger enveloping her doesn’t help that. But they’re watching the First Order nip at its heels, sting it with a thousand mosquito bites, and Finn’s worry and pride suffuse them, and they can do this.

She's been guiding them so far, but once they engage the Kaiju Finn steps forward, moving, reacting, using all the tactical and strategic knowledge he has to work with the First Order and around them and rain down hell on the creature. Rey frantically tries to keep Falcon's systems from overloading, to give Finn as much as possible within the limits of their connection. Warnings start flashing and Falcon's voice floats in her head, helping her to help Finn. He's magnificent.

When it's finally over she can hardly comprehend it. She's vibrating with the need to keep everything running to the exclusion of the world around her—Finn has her, Finn protects her, so she will keep him safe. He gentles her, helps her calm down from the blind edge of panic, and finally she sees that they've won, that the beast is dead, crashed to the earth in a tidal wave as if it's a budding island instead of an eldritch horror. That it can’t touch her anymore, won’t destroy her world all over again, like the last time.

They breathe through the aftermath together. Falcon starts the shutdown procedure. Rey's right side hurts with the strain of the unideal Drift and she feels the ghost of Finn's own pain; his left side. They drop out of the Drift.

 

The world seemed to slow down. Rey felt like she forgot how to breathe. Next to her she heard Finn scrambling around. He managed to free himself and rushed over to help her get her helmet off so she could gulp in air while he cradled her head.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Breathe with me, Rey. Easy. You're safe now. I've got you. It's over."

His voice was warm and caring. Listening to his steady stream of encouragements she managed to stop hyperventilating. Damage reports were rolling in over the monitors and outside she could see the First Order milling around the Kaiju’s corpse. There were shapes in the distant sky that seemed to get bigger.

“What’s that?” she managed, voice cracked as if she’d been screaming the whole fight. She probably had. Finn made his way to the cockpit window to check.

“Helicopters,” he said, excitement clear in his voice. “It’s the PPDC! It’s the rangers!” He turned back to her, eyes bright, grin wide on his face. “They’re bringing the Jaegers! We’re going to see the actual Jaegers!”

“You realise you’re _in_ a Jaeger,” Rey pointed out, her own smile growing wider and wider in response to Finn’s eagerness.

“Yes, but that’s _Rogue One_ ,” Finn insisted, “and _Khyber Guardian_. I’ve never seen them up close before, they’re just _so cool_.” His voice got a little squeaky. Rey felt very settled by his sense of priorities. Never mind that they’d just beaten a Kaiju. That wasn’t as world-shaking as getting to see the last two Jaegers on active duty up close and personal.

“Let’s go meet them,” she said, and started taking her gear off.

By the time they made it down and on board the First Order command ship, the First Order and the PPDC were having a stand-off on the main deck. Two men were arguing loudly at each other. Two women and a man were standing to the side watching them. The look on their faces suggested this was not an uncommon occurrence.

“Oh my god, it’s General Organa,” Finn said breathlessly. “And that’s Marshal Solo. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it between both of his. He’d been greatly disappointed when the Jaegers hadn’t even touched down once it’d become clear that there was no more threat.

“Who are the other people?” she asked, pressing her shoulder into his bicep. Exhaustion was creeping up on her and all she really wanted was to sit down and maybe have something sweet and comforting to eat.

“Those are the senior commanders of the First Order,” Finn said, “Captains Phasma, Hux and Solo. They all came with this time, which was a little strange because usually at least one of them stays behind in case something goes really wrong.”

“Wait, two Solo’s?”

Phasma must have heard them. She turned around with a proud smile. “Finn! We saw your fighter crash and feared the worst. It’s good to see you made it out—and what a way to jump right back into the fray. Great job, both of you.”

The woman next to her, General Organa, had also turned to face them. “A great job indeed. How did you even manage to get that piece of junk out of the hangar?”

“It’s not a piece of junk!” the older of the two bickering men shouted, interrupting his own argument.

“Now that I have your attention,” the General said, exasperated amusement all over her face, “perhaps you’d like to meet our impromptu rangers.”

For the first time since Rey met him, Finn seemed to be rendered speechless. The legendary General Organa was smiling at them, his CO had just told him good job, and Marshal Solo was coming over to shake their hand while the other Solo trailed over to the redheaded First Order captain to start whispering at him furiously.

It was all a little too much for her. She hadn’t been around this many people—any people, really—in… however many years it had been. She tried to hide behind Finn, but the Marshal wanted to know how she fixed his Jaeger, and the General wanted to know why she was at the Shatterdome to begin with, and Phasma was talking the battle through with Finn, and she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, couldn’t… Finn’s hand were on her, guiding her down, making her sit with her head between her knees. She couldn’t stop crying suddenly, overcome with wracking sobs that shook her entire body.

“That’s alright, Rey,” he was whispering. “It’s over. It’s over now.”

Maybe it was some remnant of the Drift, but somehow she knew he wasn’t really talking about the battle.

 

 

They got Rey bundled up into a few blankets and settled her down in the lead helicopter, where she fell asleep almost immediately. Finn had been so focused on taking care of her while giving an abbreviated version of their Jaeger adventure that now he didn’t know what to do for a moment. General Organa put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Han is trying to convince the First Order to return to the Hong Kong Shatterdome with us. Your comrades are in bad shape, and we have all the resources you need. Obviously we would like you to come back with us regardless of whether your captains decide to. We can always use another talented ranger.”

“I always wanted to be a ranger,” Finn blurted out, “but the program was discontinued.”

The general snorted. “Since the previous Kaiju just waltzed through their precious wall, they’re giving us another shot.”

“I want to help,” Finn said. “What about Rey?”

“We’ll take good care of her,” the general promised. “We could use all the talented engineers we can get, even if she doesn’t want to get back in that Jaeger. If she’s had enough entirely we’ll get her to a safe place.”

Marshal Solo came up to them. “They’re coming with us. We’ll take the wounded and the rest will make their own way.”

Something like relief came over the general’s face. “That’s good. Now we have a chance.”

Before Finn got the chance to ask her what she meant she waved him into the helicopter next to Rey and set to getting everyone underway. He sat as close to her as he could and she snuffled a little and rested her head on his shoulder. Her years of isolation and loneliness still resonated somewhere in the back of his mind and the gesture touched him more than he could probably say. Drifting had been nothing like he thought it would be. He didn’t think it would ever be possible for them not to be friends for the rest of their lives, now. He put his arms around her for a little extra warmth, and went to sleep with her.

 

∞

 

They woke up hours later, on the final approach to the Shatterdome. They kept their heads close together, talking through a pair of First Order headsets someone handed them. Finn told Rey all about the Jaeger program and the people whose care they were now in. General Organa, who’d been the one to spearhead the Jaeger program. Marshal Solo, her husband, who had been one of the very first rangers along with his co-pilot Luke, the general’s brother, in the very Jaeger that they themselves had piloted just that morning. They still had the record of most successful sorties to their name. The trio had devoted their lives to the Jaeger program, but it had not been without a heavy price. Luke was fighting a different sort of battle now, Finn said, because the Falcon’s first engine had been nuclear, and they hadn’t realised the consequences until it was almost too late and both pilots had been sick with cancer already. Luke had set aside any pain and discomfort to battle on until it nearly killed him—and it still might. He’d finally crashed during a sortie, and Han had managed to pilot solo for just long enough to finish the fight. Only one other ranger had ever been able to do that. The cancer had still been in the early stages for him, but for Luke it had already progressed much further, and he wasn’t responding to treatment well even now. On top of that, unless you counted their fight earlier, and the many like it they’d had, Marshal Solo and Captain Solo hadn’t really spoken in years. Ben hadn’t believed in his parents’ vision, had resented how big of a role the Jaeger program had played in their lives, and had joined the First Order when it had been created to replace the supposedly failing program when the Anti-Kaiju Wall was first proposed. To Rey, it just sounded like the kind of mess everybody eventually regrets, and Finn couldn’t fault her logic.

“You’ll get to meet the other rangers, soon, like you’ve always dreamed,” Rey said, smirking a little.

“I’m pretty nervous now that they’ve asked us to join,” Finn admitted.

“Finn, I… I don’t think I can do it again,” Rey said. “I can’t relive my past every time I go into the Drift and as long as I keep fighting it we’ll never sync up properly. It’s not that I don’t want to be your co-pilot, but I…”

“I know,” Finn said, squeezing her fingers. “I understand. You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

She smiled at him, relieved and fond, and squeezed back. “You’ll find someone else to Drift with. Better than we could.”

“I sure hope they feed us first, though,” he joked, winking at her. Neither of them had eaten anything since breakfast, now.

They climbed out of the helicopter with everyone else once the aircraft had landed and stood pressed together on the landing pad, a little lost in the throng of people milling around with purpose.

“Buddy, hey! Over here!” someone called, and Finn turned to see someone coming their way, waving them over. It was the most attractive man Finn had ever seen, and the sight made his throat go a little dry. He was shorter than Finn, with warm skin and softly curling hair and kind eyes. Finn was pulling Rey along towards him before he well and truly realised it. The man led them away from the noise of the landing pad, into the Shatterdome.

“That’s better, right?” he said with a smile. “What’s your name?”

Finn’s throat clicked when he tried to swallow to reply.

“I’m Rey,” Rey said. “This is Finn.”

“I’m Poe. Poe Dameron.”

“Good to meet you, Poe,” Finn managed.

“Good to meet you too, buddy,” Poe replied, turning the power of that smile on Finn, who was so affected it took him a moment to react to the name.

“Wait… Poe Dameron, the ranger who piloted solo for hours in the Knifehead attack?”

A shadow came over Poe’s face, just for a heartbeat. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“I’m sorry,” Finn blurted, “but also, that was really amazing.”

That brought the smile back. “Like walking a Jaeger into battle without any training or more than basic functions?”

The pair ducked their heads and smiled a little ruefully at each other and then at Poe.

“We did what needed to be done,” Rey said.

“And I bet you’re really hungry now,” Poe teased. “I know what it’s like.”

“Starving,” Finn confirmed.

“Come with me,” Poe said, “General Organa asked me to show you around and help you get settled in. We’ll swing by the mess to start with.”

He set off at a brisk pace, weaving through the people coming to and fro, and they hurried after him.

“What happened to him?” Rey asked under her breath. “Is he the other pilot you mentioned earlier?”

“Yes. They were in a bad fight and the Kaiju took out their cockpit. His co-pilot, Muran, was killed, but Poe managed to carry the load by himself for hours, killing the Kaiju and walking their Jaeger back to shore,” Finn muttered back.

“Shit,” Rey said, thinking back to how connected she’d felt with Finn in the Drift, and what it might feel like if…

“Yeah,” Finn said.

Poe led them into the mess hall with a sweep of his arm, taking them to get heaping plates of food and then leading them to a table already occupied by a few people.

“Finn, Rey, meet Baze and Chirrut, of Khyber Guardian—” Poe pointed to two older men sitting close together on one side of the table. One of them gave a friendly wave, the other nodded solemnly. “—and Jyn, Cassian and Bodhi, of Rogue One.” The trio on the other side of the table waved a little awkwardly, all at the same time, the woman and the man on the outside angled slightly in towards the man in the middle, like some part of them was unerringly focused on him.

“Three pilots?” Rey asked. “At the same time?”

“Yes,” the woman, Jyn, replied softly. “It works well for us.”

They say down and ate, letting the conversation wash over them. Rey was quiet, overwhelmed by the amount of people around her. Finn sat close to her, occasionally answering questions on her behalf, shielding her a little even though the rangers caught on quickly. He found himself meeting Poe’s eyes often.

When they were done eating, Bodhi leaned forward. “Would you like to see our Jaegers?” he asked. It was the first thing he’d said, but he looked excited about it, as if he’d been sizing them up and liked what he’d found.

“Yes! Absolutely!” Finn blurted, and Rey leaned forward with an eager nod. “Can we go right now?”

The rangers exchanged pleased looks and Poe clapped Finn on the back.

“We can,” he told Rey. “We’ll show you the way.”

The Shatterdome hangar was incredibly impressive, even to Rey. Where the Anchorage Shatterdome had held three Jaegers, this one was big enough for ten—only they’d never managed to get it filled up. The remaining Jaegers stood together on one end and Millenium Falcon was being slotted into place next to them. Rogue One was lean and lithe, clearly built for speed and evasion rather than heavy hitting. Khyber Guardian was the opposite, built like a mountain and heavily armed and armoured. Cassian was explaining to Finn which combat tactics they usually employed, with occasional input from Baze, but Rey was more interested in the way the designs worked.

“What kind of leverage…” she started, but Poe held up a hand to interrupt.

“Let me introduce you to the person who can answer every question you have, and then some,” he said, and led her along to a tiny woman giving directions at the foot of the Falcon.

“This is Rose Tico,” Poe said. “She’s the one who’s keeping us up and running. She designed the latest generations of Jaegers, and is in charge of all maintenance on the ones still in operation. Rose, this is Rey, the person who’s been repairing the Falcon since it was decommissioned and got it functional enough to take out a Kaiju.”

“That was so amazing, I can’t believe you managed…”

“You made all of these? How did you come up with a way to…”

The girls started speaking at the same time and continued to do so, somehow managing to have both conversations at once. Poe watched them bemusedly for a moment and then went back to Finn, who had gotten Bodhi to explain how the three-way Drift worked with regards to who controlled what, gesturing expansively like he rarely did. Jyn looked like she might cry. He put his arm around her shoulders.

“I don’t know how much longer we can keep doing this,” she said.

“If Kay and Leia’s plan works, we won’t have to,” he replied, shaking her gently and pressing a kiss to her temple.

A while later, when the rangers had had the chance to talk their fill about their Jaegers and Rey and Finn had asked pretty much every question they could come up with, the inevitable question was asked, the one Poe had half hoped wouldn’t come.

“Where’s your Jaeger, Poe?” Rey said. “Is it here, too?”

It still stung, even if it had been more than a year now since Poe had last piloted her. He managed a smile, but from the look on Rey’s face it wasn’t much of one.

“Yeah, she’s here,” Rose replied when he didn’t. “She’s fully operational, but she’s not on active duty. There’s an… issue with her that we’re not sure is a problem? But until we really need her, we’re just running checks on her.”

“What issue?” Rey pressed. Poe and Rose exchanged glances.

“BB… Sabotage Eight’s A.I. kind of stepped in to carry the neural load with me after… when I tried to carry it by myself,” Poe said. “She’s sort of developed a personality, since then. Not to the point where it’ll be a three-way Drift if… when she ever gets piloted again, but enough that you can’t just put any pilot in there. She’s got a will of her own.”

“I’d love to meet her,” Finn blurted.

“Well then, buddy, I guess I’ll have to introduce you,” Poe said, that crooked grin returning to make Finn’s stomach flutter even if there was still a shadow in Poe’s eyes.

“Do you have any idea how it happened?” Rey asked Rose, who went on to explain all the avenues they’d already explored to understand what had happened, but without any real answers.

The others exchanged fond looks but waved goodbye as Poe and Rose led them to the bay where BB-8, as she was now affectionately known, was kept. An elevator took them up to the cockpit, where there was a terminal with endless cables connected to it, flowing to various other devices, down into the Jaeger itself or all the way down to the workstations on the ground.

“Hey buddy, I’m back!” Poe called. The terminal lit up instantly and a series of quick, excited beeps sounded. “BB-8, meet Finn—” Another series of beeps and flashes that managed to sound curious and friendly. “—and Rey!” Another beep, and then a few more in quick succession that seemed to be asking something.

“She doesn’t really speak,” Rose explained. “She had the standard set of interface phrases, but instead of expanding on those she likes to use…”

They’d walked all the way up to the terminal now, and saw that the flashes were in fact a series of pictures being displayed. Currently it was a row of hearts, happy cats and music notes.

“Emoji’s,” Rose finished. “How are you doing, BB? Are you excited everyone’s here?”

Two thumbs ups immediately flashed on the display, followed by a bunch of confetti emoji’s.

“She manages pretty well,” Rose smiled.

“Hey, BB-8,” Finn said, feeling a little awkward, “it’s nice to meet you.” She beep-booped and ‘waved’ at him.

“Hello, BB-8,” Rey said, “I can’t believe how clever you are!” BB-8 seemed to laugh happily and displayed a row of prizes, ribbons, and flowers.

“She’s the best,” Poe said, proud and loving, putting his hand on the display.

“She’s his baby,” Rose told Finn and Rey.

“Do you guys mind if we stay here a little longer before we tour the rest of the base?” Poe asked, a little hesitation in his voice.

“No, of course not—” “—not at all,” Finn and Rey said at the same time.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Rose laughed, “some of us have actual work to do.”

They called out their goodbyes, and when her footsteps echoed off to the elevator, silence descended over the cockpit. Rey couldn’t help but breathe it in.

“I figured we could all use a break,” Poe said.

Finn gave him a grateful smile while Rey leaned back into BB-8’s terminal. It beeped at her softly, and she closed her eyes and smiled. Poe and Finn talked quietly, getting to know each other, while BB-8 occasionally added to the conversation and Rey slowly fell asleep, safe and warm.

 

 

It became a regular and precious part of their routine in the Shatterdome. The First Order was still camped out with them, Poe had duties around the base, Finn was receiving ranger training. Rey had been added to the Jaeger maintenance team, and had quickly made a name for herself. They didn’t get to see each other much except for those few hours here and there where they stole away to sit in BB-8’s cockpit and played ‘guess what she means by these emoji’s’ and talk. Sometimes Rose would join them, or steal Rey away and it would just be Finn and Poe. Whenever Poe wasn’t looking, BB-8 would flash Finn a rapid succession of pictograms: hearts, kisses, a couple holding hands, rings, and whatever else she deemed appropriate. She’d flash him thumbs up too, whenever either of them said anything that could remotely be interpreted as flirty. Finn always tried to shush her, blushing hotly. He didn’t know how she’d caught on to the fact that Poe made him feel a little giddy, but he did _not_ need an A.I. matchmaker, thank you very much. If Poe noticed, he never said anything, but sometimes—when Finn had been fruitlessly trying to get BB-8 to behave again—he would smile all fond and contented, and Finn would wonder.

“D’you think that maybe… that we’d be…” Poe started once, but he’d waved it away, and hadn’t come back to it. BB-8 made a disappointed beep. _Drift compatible_ , the back of Finn’s head supplied. _Otherwise compatible. Perfect for each other._ He didn’t say anything, either.

 

 

They were in the middle of dinner when it happened, all nine of them squeezed together around a table. Alarms started blaring, and the call for the rangers to head to their Jaegers sounded over the speakers. They scrambled out of their seats, gripping arms and thumping backs quickly before heading to where they were supposed to be. Poe brought Finn and Rey to LOCCENT with him.

“Nothing more to do than watch,” he’d said grimly as they pushed inside. The place was already in chaos and they squirreled themselves away into a corner, standing close together to keep out of the way. Korr Sella, Leia’s assistant and Chief LOCCENT Officer, was running pre-deployment checks and getting call-backs from the people in her team. General Organa was standing to the side, trying to calm a man down who was waving his hands wildly and somehow managed to be shouting under his breath.

“That’s Kay,” Poe supplied, “he’s the foremost expert on all things Kaiju. His projections showed we would get a double event pretty soon, and it looks like this is it.”

The radar showed two blips, moving slowly but steadily to their goals.

Marshal Solo barged into LOCCENT and jumped right into their conversation. “The First Order has agreed to scramble with us,” he said. “Looks like they got a taste of what it feels like to fight in concert with a Jaeger.”

“You got him to agree that quickly?” the general said, clearly surprised.

“Not Ben, but his fellow captains clearly know better,” Solo groused.

“Probably Phasma,” Finn whispered, “that sounds like the kind of thing she’d go for.”

“And will they help us with our plan?” Kay pressed.

“One day at a time,” General Organa said. “We’ll see how this goes, first.”

Down in the bay, the rangers had suited up. Cassian, Jyn and Bodhi stood close, arms around each other and foreheads pressed together. Baze took Chirrut’s head in his hands and kissed him like it might be the last time. Finn tried not to glance at Poe.

“Are they going to be okay?” Rey asked. She was shivering, feeling like her blood was turning into ice water with the knowledge of those Kaiju inexorably making their way to shore.

“If anyone can do it, it’s them,” Poe said. It wasn’t really an answer, and they all knew it. Rey slid her hands into theirs and they stood and watched their friends initiate Drift and head out.

Rey, Finn and Poe had all been through hell with the Kaiju throughout their lives, but this was possibly the worst experience of them all, because they were completely powerless. First, there was the waiting. Rey had no idea how long it actually took the attack force to reach their target, but it felt like days. Korr constantly received status updates from the dozen people who were monitoring both Jaegers and the First Order feeds, but most of it didn’t make immediate sense to Rey, so she would look at Poe pleadingly, until eventually he just kept up a steady murmur in his low, warm voice. It helped, but not as much as she’d hoped.

Then, finally, the call came: Khyber Guardian and one of the battalions had made contact with the first Kaiju. Rogue One and two more battalions were still on route to the second Kaiju and would be attempting to drive it back towards the first so they could try and concentrate fire on both at once. Finn’s voice joined Poe’s, analysing the fight data they were getting as soon as Korr did.

The battle didn’t go very well.

Even though they did manage to herd them together, the Kaiju seemed tailor made to go up against their Jaegers. They had armour in all the right places, had just the right shape of claw, just the right weight to their strikes, had a jaw strength unlike any they’d seen before. At one point they heard Jyn screaming—‘her’ arm torn clean away because the first Kaiju was even quicker than they were—and had to listen to the horrible feedback sound coming off Guardian when the second one bit down and just kept squeezing and squeezing and squeezing in spite of the Jaeger’s heavy fists coming down over and over again, until they were all sure that Baze and Chirrut would die right there.

It was the First Order that saved the day. Because while the Kaiju might be tailor made to take on Rogue and Guardian, they clearly weren’t prepared for a joint attack, or for just how much of a nuisance those pesky ants would prove to be. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that without the First Order battalions, the battle would have been lost—Jaegers obliterated, cities devastated, tens of thousands of people wiped off the map. Even as the Jaegers were sacrificing themselves to destroy the Kaiju, the Stormtroopers were making sure it stuck, were blowing holes in the ruined hulls so they could evacuate the rangers who up until then had believed they would be going down with the enemy, were offering the very best that humanity had to offer. They paid very, very dearly for it.

Almost 2000 people went out to fight the Kaiju. Less than 500 made it back.

Poe held Rey and Finn to him to try and steady them, still tucked into their little corner of the control room. Rey felt physically ill at how close history had come to repeating itself and hugged both men back tight. Finn was trembling in their arms while the damage and casualty reports kept rolling in. Rogue One was unrecoverable, Khyber Guardian nearly so. The entire first battalion was gone. Phasma called in from one of the First Order command aircraft, more dishevelled than Finn had ever seen her. Behind her on the feed they could see Jyn cradled in Cassian’s lap, Bodhi wrapped around them both, crying and crying. Baze and Chirrut were nowhere to be seen. General Organa talked to her in that low, soothing voice, getting her through the worst of her shock before losing her own composure and asking about her son. Captains Solo and Hux were both with the wounded, but their injuries were not life threatening. Leia had to sit down, at which point her husband stepped in to help Phasma through the rest of the debrief. Poe gently pulled Finn and Rey away, outside, down to the mess where he made them sit down and drink something with way too much sugar in it. All three of them were shaking.

“What happens now?” Rey asked, feeling so tiny.

“Leia has a plan,” Poe told them, “but I’m not sure what it is, or if we can still do it with the losses we’ve suffered, or now that we don’t have any Jaegers anymore.”

“We do still have Jaegers,” Finn said, and it came out sounding more determined than he thought he’d be able to manage. “We absolutely still have Jaegers. We’ll make it work, whatever the plan is. We can do it. We have to do it.”

 

 

Things were very quiet in the Shatterdome for the next few days, aside from the many and loud arguments people kept witnessing in the hallways while rushing past as quickly as they could. Kay and Leia, Leia and Han, Han and Ben, Ben and the other First Order captains; the whole base was buzzing with rumours and anecdotes, but very little actual information. Rose was an excellent source for all goings-on, and she was more than happy to relate anything and everything she heard while the four of them were holed up in BB-8’s cockpit, or during visits to the rangers in the infirmary. It was like they were all constantly holding their breath, waiting and waiting for the spell to break.

It finally did, two days later. They were in BB-8’s cockpit, just Finn, Rey and Poe, teaching the A.I. how to sing by modulating her beeps and flashing emoticons for lyrics, when General Organa stepped in, followed by Kay and Marshal Solo. She waved them back when they scrambled to get up and didn’t manage much more than slide off each other.

“It’s time we get this over with,” the general said. “You know we’ve been working on something and it’s time we fill you in. Kay has been doing the math, the science, and a lot of _incredibly_ dumb shit—” she held up a hand to cut him off, “—and he thinks there’s a way to close the Breach.”

“You’re kidding,” Poe stammered, while Finn whooped and Rey just stared.

“I most assuredly am not,” Leia went on. “We have a plan. Unfortunately, we were counting on having two, preferably even three, fully functional Jaegers and ranger teams.”

“Oh,” Rey said, voice small.

“Oh,” Marshal Solo confirmed.

“We were also hoping we’d be able to count on the First Order for support,” the general added.

“Oh,” Finn said.

“Oh, indeed. While the First Order hasn’t been wiped off the map just yet, they have not agreed to deploy whatever remains of their troops to help us close the Breach. They will instead regroup and take over in the final fight if we don’t manage to close it, because if we fail the Jaeger program will be finished one way or another,” Leia finished.

“We’re still going ahead?” Poe asked. “But how?”

“With literally everything we have left,” Han supplied, and turned to Rey. “Think you and Rose can get the Falcon back in shape, Kid?”

She went pale. “I can fix it, but… Who’s going to… Will I have to…”

“You just worry about getting it done as fast as humanly possible,” the marshal said kindly. “I’m going to pilot it.”

“ _We_ are going to pilot it,” Leia said pointedly. At Han’s look she added, “What, were you going to ask Luke? ‘Please stop having chemo and come die five minutes after you hook up to the Pons?’”

“I guess I hadn’t thought about it,” he replied after a beat. “Are you sure you want to get to know me _that_ well?”

She gave him a fondly exasperated smile and for a minute it looked like they would start kissing right there.

“So that’s one Jaeger,” Kay hastily said, “but we do really need two. You see, only the Kaiju can actually go through the Breach, so the basic plan is: catch a Kaiju, strap a bomb to the Kaiju, toss the Kaiju back into the Breach, boom, voila.”

“Boom,” Rey echoed flatly. “Are you serious? How do you even know that?”

“Because he Drifted with a Kaiju,” Han said, voice gaining volume by the end of the sentence. Kay shrank in on himself, just a little.

“Incredibly dumb shit,” Leia reiterated. The trio stared at the scientist, dumbfounded. BB-8 had a choice array of emoji’s for the occasion.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Kay went on, “because the next event will most likely be a double event again, we can’t afford to just send one Jaeger. One of the teams will need to keep the other one safe long enough to actually get the bomb through.”

“So, Poe,” Leia said, looking knowingly between him and Finn, “take Finn to the training room and run some routines. Sabotage Eight needs a new set of pilots.”

 

 

They didn’t look at each other in the locker room. They didn’t really need to run the exercises, they already knew. They didn’t say anything, anyway.

Han and Leia were already waiting for them in the dojo, tension high. Poe and Finn went to stand on opposite ends of the mat and finally looked at each other. Suddenly it was all easy. Poe grinned that crooked grin and Finn smiled, wide and open.

They ran through the first kata, and the second, and the third, fast and loose and so, so easy, and the only time they faltered was when Leia called out, who knew how much later, “That’s enough.”

They stood close together this time, panting and smiling like idiots.

“How about a live test?” the general said. “BB-8 is already asking for you.”

 

 

_Initiating launch operations, Sabotage Eight._

“That’s just weird,” Finn muttered. “She should be flashing us a bunch of confetti and thumbs ups.”

Poe laughed and bumped his bicep.

“Ready when you are, boys,” Korr said.

“Ready,” Poe said.

“Ready,” Finn said with just a bit more apprehension.

“Live Drift test 1,” Korr said. “Go in three, two, one…”

_Initiating Drift_ , Sabotage said.

 

It’s nothing like last time.

He doesn’t have to focus on getting them moving, on making it work, on going out there and saving his comrades to the exclusion of all else. Instead, he gets to experience his consciousness expanding, the flow of the memories taking him where they will, showing him more of Poe, and more still, showing him everything he wants so desperately to know. Before, he was too busy to even be tempted to chase a R.A.B.I.T., but everything about Poe is so interesting, so attractive to Finn that he can’t help but want to linger, want to look his fill, want to chase after every memory he sees.

Poe’s warm laugh sounds all around him, and then Finn feels the sensation of a hand resting on his shoulder—the right one, as if Poe’s actually reached over and grabbed him—and lets it draw him along, keeping him from getting stuck in the tidal wave of sensations.

“You might be the first ranger to chase the rabbit over someone else’s memories,” Poe says, laughter still in his voice. “Don’t worry, buddy, you’ll know them all like they’re yours once we’re through.”

Already there’s some part of Finn despairing that he will only get to experience this with him a few more times, this being so close that they may as well be one. He’d be embarrassed, but Poe is right there with him.

“I’m not letting go,” Poe says. “I’m not letting you go, Finn.”

There’s a presence in the Drift with them, like a blanket around their shoulders, a wall at their back, a hand ready to guide them along or help them get back up again.

_Neural Handshake holding steady at 100%,_ Sabotage informs them. _Drift established._

There’s cheering in LOCCENT but they barely hear it. Finn is too busy experiencing. Poe is too happy with his reunion with BB-8, together again like they are meant to be.

“Let’s try and see if you can move around like normal, all right?” Korr says, and they somehow must manage to follow her orders, or maybe BB-8 does it for them, because they all come together in the Drift, and they never want it to end.

 

 

It was inevitable, after that. They were dragged off to the infirmary for a battery of tests, but couldn’t seem to stop looking at each other and Finn would react to stimuli Poe received and vice versa.

“Ghost Drift,” Korr said, but she didn’t elaborate and Finn didn’t ask. Poe would explain, later. He put his hand out on the bench next to him and Poe put his own right next to it.

“Go get some rest,” she said, right when Finn hooked his little finger over Poe’s.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Poe said, grabbed Finn’s hand and dragged him out of there.

They slowed down once they hit the long corridors, as if Poe wanted to give Finn time to change his mind, to break off and head to his own quarters, his own bed, but Finn just laced their fingers together and followed him home.

They locked the rest of the Shatterdome and the world away.

“I had no idea it could be like that,” Finn said softly.

“Chirrut told me, but I thought he was just being romantic,” Poe said.

“Can I kiss you?” Finn asked.

“I really wish you would,” Poe smiled, so Finn did.

 

∞

 

The next few days were a blur. They were racing against time, trying to get as much training and practice in as they could, trying to get as much done as possible and that much more again, all while the clock kept ticking towards the next event. When the call finally came, it was almost a relief. They had given everything they had to give, and in a few hours it would be over, one way or another.

Rey was there to help Finn and Poe suit up. Next to them Korr was helping Leia and Cassian was helping Han. The rest of the rangers were already up in LOCCENT, ready to give advice over the comm. It was hard to find words.

Silent tears were rolling down Korr’s face as Leia quietly and steadily went over everything that would be on their plates in the next few days, as if there was no doubt that those things would still need doing and that she would be there to do them with Korr by her side, no doubt that she was coming back. She and Han were holding hands.

“Just come back, okay?” Rey said. “Just blow the damn thing to hell and come back.”

Finn drew her into a hug and Poe wrapped his arms around both of them.

“BB-8 is not going to let anything happen to us,” he finally managed. “She’ll take matters into her own hands if we’re being stupid.” Rey laughed and sobbed a little at the same time.

“Rey, if… If anything does happen,” Finn said, cupping her face between his hands, “don’t try and go it alone, alright? You stick with Rose, and the PPDC will take care of you, and just make sure you’re not alone again, okay? Promise me.”

“Come back and I’ll promise,” she said defiantly. “So you better come back.” He hugged her again, even more fiercely.

Cassian came over to thump them on the shoulders and pull them into hugs.

“Time to save the world,” he said.

Behind him, Han and Leia were sharing a kiss. Poe wondered if Chirrut had told them it was good luck, too. Better not mess with tradition.

“One second,” he told Cassian, and reeled Finn in to kiss him like it might be the last time.

“For luck,” he said.

“You’re going with Chirrut’s line? Seriously?” Finn smiled. “We’re going to make our own luck.”

“Either way, you’re probably going to need it!” Cassian said. “Now get on that elevator and make us proud.”

BB-8 was already waiting for them, beeping and flashing away too fast for them to make actual sense of. People milled about them, hooking them up to the Jaeger, and then suddenly they were alone.

_Initiating launch operations, Sabotage Eight._

“Come in, Millenium Falcon, Sabotage Eight, this is LOCCENT,” Korr’s voice came over the comm.

“Ready when you are, LOCCENT,” Poe said.

“Ready,” Finn said.

“Ready,” Han said.

“Ready,” Leia said.

“Godspeed, rangers,” Korr said. “Here we go; in three, two, one…”

_Initiating Drift_ , Sabotage said.

 

It’s as easy as breathing. Easier. There is no doubt in their minds, about themselves or each other. You don’t need someone to tell you they love you when it’s so all-encompassing in the Drift. You don’t need someone to assure you that you can do it when everything about them is unshakably convinced that you can.

Sabotage moves smoothly around them, the pinnacle of human engineering right at their fingertips, connected with them like she’s part of them, ready to go wherever they go, do whatever they need her to do _with_ them, instead of just for them.

It’s oddly serene, their walk over the ocean floor. Like they’re on a faraway world, fighting to save the galaxy instead of just their own little planet from the horrors of the multiverse. Next to them the Falcon is carrying the payload that will collapse the Breach. She’s slower and more fragile, as much as a Jaeger is ever fragile, so it’s their job to protect her and her precious cargo—not just the bomb, but her pilots too—and to kill one of their attackers as quickly as possible so she can use its body to put an end to all this.

“Sonar contact up ahead, let’s go dark,” Korr says.

The first Kaiju has already come through the Breach and is just floating there, waiting for its mate or maybe standing guard. It doesn’t seem to have heard or seen them in the dark, murky waters.

Finn can’t help but laugh, giddy with adrenaline but also with the knowledge of just what Sabotage comes equipped with; Rose’s brainchild finally finished after years of trying to get it right now that she’d found a perfect partner in crime.

“Is it really going to be that easy?” he asks, elated.

“I feel you, buddy,” Poe says, “but let’s wait and see, alright? LOCCENT, should we take the shot?”

“Stand by,” Korr says. They can hear her and her team arguing back and forth with Kay in the background.

“He’s going to spot us,” Han says. “Take the shot. If it doesn’t work, it won’t work even after tech support is done arguing, and if it does work, we might get this over with in one shot.”

“Rose and Rey are really hoping for a field test,” Leia says airily.

“If you’re sure,” Poe says, just as lightly, but Finn can tell he actually cannot wait to get to fire BB-8’s newest toy.

“Three scoops of ice cream says we can kill it in one shot,” he says.

“I’ll take that action,” Leia replies, quick as a whip.

They line up the shot.

_Tico-Gauss Mass Driver, powering up,_ Sabotage says. BB-8’s console is flashing with excitement. _Standby to fire._

They pull the trigger.

The shock wave when the payload leaves the barrel throws them off, but it doesn’t matter. The projectile will reach the Kaiju first and they will have time to reposition before it responds—if it still can.

A change in the water must have alerted the creature, because it comes alive seconds before impact. They were aiming for the head, but instead the torpedo hits it straight on, cleaving off its right arm and shoulder, and most of its chest.

_Recharching_ , Sabotage informs them calmly, like they didn’t just fire a Gauss rifle at a Kaiju. LOCCENT is screaming in their ears but Finn isn’t really listening.

“Did it work? Is it dead? Did we get it, did we get it?”

In the eerie light of the Breach powering up for a second arrival, the Kaiju just hangs there in the water, Kaiju Blue dispersing all around it.

“LOCCENT?” Poe is asking.

“It’s still alive!” Cassian shouts. “Hit it again!”

Immediately they line up the shot, but the Kaiju shudders and comes alive again, using its strong tail to propel it forward, straight towards the Falcon.

“Flood lights!” Finn shouts.

BB-8 immediately floods the sea around them with light and the Kaiju diverts. They hit it with their second payload right before impact.

This time, they do hit its head.

The shock wave throws them off again, worse now that the Kaiju’s body is so close and some of the force reverberates. They stagger back. One of their knees buckles and they go down, waiting for an attack that might not come but might also destroy them. They have no idea if the second Kaiju has arrived yet.

_Recharching,_ Sabotage says.

“It’s down,” they hear Korr sing, “target is down!”

“The second one is here!” Baze is shouting. “Get back up!”

Falcon is moving in, lights on again, grabbing onto what’s left of the Kaiju’s lower body. The tail is intact, along with most of one hip and leg. It’s good enough.

“This is going to work,” Han says, like he doesn’t believe it but wants them all to feel better. Rey’s voice sounds in the back of Finn and Poe’s head, _we can do this, we can do this_.

Sabotage is already righting itself and turning even before they consciously start to move. BB-8 is beeping urgently, trying to get them to look.

“Falcon, get that bomb in place and kill your lights again! We’ll try and take out the second one.”

“ _Where is it?_ ” Finn shouts. “LOCCENT, I have dozens of sonar signatures.”

“It has drones,” Kay says, in awe.

“Try again?” Finn says between gritted teeth.

“It has drones!” Korr repeats, with exactly the correct amount of exasperation and indignation in her voice.

“That’s great, just great,” Poe says. “BB, how are we doing on the canon?”

_Two torpedoes remaining. Structural damage to third coil._

“What does that mean?” Finn demands.

“It means you might only have one more shot,” Korr says. “Better make it count.”

“It’s useless like this, anyway,” Poe says, “we have to find the big one first.”

“Payload in place,” Leia reports. “Going dark. We’re taking the long way round, away from any sonar contacts. Stay alive, Sabotage.”

“Copy that,” both Korr and Poe respond.

_Deploying swords_ , Sabotage says. BB-8 is practically screeching with cackled glee.

“Swords? Swords. Okay, we are doing this. We are totally doing this,” Finn babbles.

“I’ve got you, buddy,” Poe says, trying to project reassurance, but his smile says he’s with BB-8 on this one. “Let’s try and give them something to focus on instead of the Falcon, huh?”

It’s hard to describe what it feels like, even to himself. Finn can only experience. They move smoothly through the water, as if they don’t weigh tons upon tons, as if the water is no denser than air. The drones don’t seem to have many offensive capabilities; they’re mostly there to confuse their senses and probably to enhance the Kaiju’s. The swords slice through them like a hot knife through butter, but there are so many of them, and they do a very good job of distracting BB-8. There’s no way to know if they’re monitoring the Falcon as well, no way of knowing whether the big one is already on its way to them, or if it’s stalking the Falcon as they speak.

“LOCCENT, how are they doing?”

“They’re halfway there,” Korr says. “No bogeys on their tail for now.”

“Do you have any idea where the big one is? We can’t keep this up,” Finn says. They’re tiring fast and Sabotage is taking more damage by the minute. Several alarms are already blaring.

“The drones are swarming too much,” Korr says.

“Should we just fire the damn charge?” Finn asks. “What are the chances the canon will explode?”

“Stand by,” Korr says.

“Rose will not be happy with us,” Poe predicts.

“She’ll be less happy if we’re dead,” Finn replies, then thinks it over. “Pretty sure, at least.”

“Just fire the damn thing!” Han suddenly cuts in. “If it explodes it’ll take more of them with it than it’ll hurt you, probably.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Leia gripes.

“Do you have a better one?” Han says. “I’m sure those kids are all ears.”

“We need a few more minutes,” Leia says. “I guess it’s all or nothing now.”

“Rose thinks it’s a bad call, but Rey thinks she’ll hold,” Korr adds. “It’s up to you.”

“Do you want to flip a coin over it?” Finn jokes. Poe opens his mouth to reply.

Sabotage fires.

The sonic boom throws the drones back violently, ripping through the ones that were right on top of the Jaeger. The ones in the projectile’s path are vaporised by the sheer force of the launch and the torpedo speeds off.

_Recharching,_ Sabotage says. Miraculously, the coil holds.

Finn and Poe are shouting, trying to make sense of what happened and stay upright and in fighting position at the same time. BB-8 is smugly quiet.

The torpedo impacts.

It’s not a direct blow, but the drones have been thrown back enough to show the larger blip of the Kaiju. It’s coming straight for them now, and once it comes in range of their flood lights they can see that its hind quarters were hit, one of its back legs useless. It’s limping over the ocean floor, but it’s still scarily fast.

“Charge faster!” Finn screams, mashing down on the trigger uselessly.

“Brace!” Poe shouts, firing their anchor cables and lowering their weight.

The Kaiju rams them head first, denting Sabotage’s chest and pinning one of her arms, wrenching it back and up as if trying to take it straight out of the socket. The cables don’t hold and they bowl over, end over end. They manage a swipe with their free arm, getting the creature with the sword, but it doesn’t let go. It brings its head down again and pulls at the pinned arm while the drones start to swarm in closer again, getting in some pot shots. There’s no way to hit the thing while it’s on top of them.

“We have to get it off!” Poe shouts.

“I have an idea!” Finn shouts back.

They manage to get one knee in between the Kaiju and themselves when it lifts its head again for another attack. Using the creature’s weight against it, they manage to roll them over and create just enough distance to get the rifle mouth into position.

Sabotage fires before they’ve even realised they’re in the perfect place. The Kaiju is all but obliterated on the spot.

The explosion throws them off and back. The third coil gives out and causes a secondary explosion, sending them crashing to the sea floor, hard. Sabotage starts a litany of all the systems that have or are shutting down. They can’t move, but the Handshake has held, somehow. The emergency lights are on, suggesting their main reactor may have shut down. Their feeds are down. BB-8 sounds like she was in a car crash with the Doppler effect.

“Are we flooding?” Finn groans.

“Don’t think so,” Poe manages. “LOCCENT, are you still there?”

“Copy, Sabotage!” Korr responds. She’s crying. “We thought we lost you for a second there, we’re not getting any life signs from you.”

“We shot the thing in the face at point blank,” Poe says sheepishly. “It’s definitely dead, but so is Sabotage, mostly.”

“How is the Falcon doing?” Finn asks anxiously.

“Good and sort of bad,” Korr says, voice wavering. “They made it to the Breach with the bomb, but it started to power up again when they arrived. There’s a third Kaiju on the way, and we’ve no way of knowing if it’ll make it before the bomb goes off or not.”

“Has the bomb been deployed?” Poe asks. There’s a sense of panic in the back of their head and Finn’s not sure why.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“We’re in the blast radius,” Poe replies. “And I don’t think our eject systems are still working, even if I was willing to leave BB-8 behind.”

Finn’s blood turns to ice.

“The bomb has been deployed,” Korr confirms.

“We’re coming to get you,” Leia says. “We’ll drag you all the way back to Hong Kong if we need to.”

“You’ll never make it!” Poe is saying. Finn is thinking about Rey, left behind again.

“I don’t care!” Han shouts. “We’re not leaving you to die. Enough is enough!”

“We have a plan,” Leia adds. “Just sit tight.”

The Falcon reaches them just then and hoists them up by their armpits, Sabotage’s back to Falcon’s chest.

“Let’s do this!” Han cheers.

“Do what?” they hear Korr shout, but her voice is drowned out by the roar of three of the rockets fitted to Falcon’s back and shoulders starting to fire all at once. Poe is laughing along with Han is a sort of crazed elation, but Finn feels like he might be sick.

It takes so long they think it might not work, but then the improvised jet pack starts to lift them off the floor and carry them towards the surface. Han ejects the missiles once their afterburners are spent, and fires up the next three.

“Tell me you didn’t ‘accidentally’ arm them so you could trick jump,” Leia deadpans.

“You know I didn’t but that is a fabulous idea,” Han laughs.

“Make it stop!” Finn begs.

It takes two more boosts, but they break the surface. The carrier helicopters are standing by and people are already dangling low to be able to hook them on immediately.

“Did the bomb go off?” Finn urges. “What about the Kaiju?”

“Stand by,” Korr says.

It takes an eternity.

“The Breach is closed,” Korr says, quietly, shakily. “The Kaiju didn’t make it. It’s over.”

Everyone is still.

Then, LOCCENT starts cheering wildly. The voices flood the comms, white noise while the rangers come to grips with the fact that their fight is over. BB-8 starts signing, trying to get Finn and Poe to respond to her.

“I’m coming, BB,” Poe says, and it jolts them into moving.

“We did it,” Poe says, looking at Finn and smiling that smile. “You know I never even thought about what I would do, after?”

“I know,” Finn says, because he does, now more than he ever will again in their lifetime. “I always thought it might be nice to go live somewhere quietly, untouched by the war, and raise chickens and a dog and maybe a kid who will never have to be afraid for their life.”

Poe can see it along with him, feel all that it matters to him along with him, feel how much Finn wants it to be their future and not just his.

“I guess BB-8 can be the dog,” he says.

Together, they disconnect for the last time.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](%E2%80%9Daeremaee.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for It's Not Heavy (Not For Both of Us) by nightfell](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14542254) by [starwarsbigbang (lilyrose225)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyrose225/pseuds/starwarsbigbang)




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